Over time, desk and office furniture designs have changed with the advent and acceptance of new technologies. For example, with the introduction of the typewriter, desks designed for writing became inadequate. Typewriters did not require that the work surface be as large, nor the height of the work surface be as high. Similarly, as personal computers began overtaking the work environment, keyboards and monitors presented new issues to accommodate. As in the past, design advancements continue, resulting most recently in flat screen monitors and wireless devices, e.g., keyboard and mouse.
Cost conscious businesses are always seeking ways to minimize expenses, for example, high efficiency lighting and heating, or even conserving office space. Thus, as desk space requirements decrease, an obvious next step for office designers is to reduce the size of desks. Older style cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors required a large area of unusable space in order to be positioned for comfortable viewing. Often this required placing the CRT monitor in a corner of a desk. Flat screen or liquid crystal diode (LCD) monitors do not share this same drawback. Office designers have been presented with the possibility of moving the monitors out of the corner and to a straight, smaller surface, thereby allowing them to increase the number of work stations within a given area.
Another common means by which office designers conserve desk space is by removing the keyboard from the desk and placing it below the desk top. Thus, providing a support mechanism to support a device, such as a keyboard, for movement relative to a base, such as a wall, desk top or table top, is well known in the art. Similarly, it is well known to utilize a locking device to releasably retain the device in a desired position.
For example, the keyboard support mechanism disclosed in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 6,176,456, hereby incorporated by reference, uses a three bar linkage mechanism for vertical swinging movement relative to a base in combination with a locking mechanism releasable for permitting vertical movement of the keyboard support upon the application of a lifting force thereto. Although the device taught in this patent elegantly provides the aforementioned movement and locking capabilities, the storage size is limited by the size of the mechanism and the length of the guide track upon which the mechanism travels.
Further issues presented to office designers include ergonomic considerations, specifically when faced with the situation where more than one person uses a workstation, i.e., flex and part-time employees. No two users are alike and therefore have different seated heights, arm lengths, etc . . . . To minimize potential problems such as carpal tunnel syndrome, consistent placement, i.e., height and angle, of the keyboard is critical. Thus, a support arm mechanism having means to display support height and angle would provide a person with the information needed to maintain the best alignment of the mechanism for that person's needs. Each person using the workstation may quickly and easily modify the support arm configuration, restoring their configuration, even if the support is moved to a different position. However, heretofore, no support arm mechanisms have provided height and angle information, as described above.
As can be derived from the variety of devices and methods directed at support arm mechanisms, many means have been contemplated to accomplish the desired end, i.e., rigid support of an article, without sacrificing the flexibility and small storage size afforded by a retractable linkage mechanism. Heretofore, tradeoffs between functionality and storage size were required. Additionally, ergonomic factors have driven support arm mechanism design, but positive feedback of support height and angle has not been considered. Thus, there has been a longfelt need for a support arm having high strength and a small storage size, with positive feedback of support height and angle.